The Mitchell's

What We Have Been Up To.....

2011-06-16T04:22:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy lately and it looks like it is only going to get busier. I think my calendar has more on it now than it did when school was still in. This is my first summer off since I was in high school. I wasn't sure what I would do with my time, but it seems I have been pretty busy. I will be babysitting every other week, so that will keep me busy and then the girls are still having ballgames and Kaitlyn has even been asked to be on a traveling team, which is really exciting. I am planning on taking a summer class online and also need to get the girls signed up for swimming lessons. So needless to say, my summer will not be boring at all, but that is fine. I like to stay busy. I don't like to just sit around doing nothing.

Mother's Day!! Me and my girls.

Me & Kaitlyn.

Me & Kenleigh.

Kenny & I.

The Mitchell Family

My brother-in-law Johnny, sister-in-law Angela, niece and nephew Lacey & Johnathon

Me, my mom, Kenny and the girls.

Me and my mom.

Me, Kenny & the girls.

Aunt Kathleen & Ma.

My mother-in-law Brenda and Ma & Aunt Kathleen.

Brenda, Ma and my sister-in-law Tina.

Tina & Jason.

Ma, Aunt Kathleen & Kenny.

Aunt Tina & Kenleigh

2nd Grade Field Trip to the Zoo!!

Kaitlyn and Jewell

Kaitlyn's Teacher Mrs. Carol feeding the birds.

Hailey feeding the birds.

Madison and Kaitlyn. Cousins.

Levi and Kaitlyn

Our Crew: Turner, Jewell, Hailey, Korizma, Kaitlyn & Abreanna.

These kids belong at the zoo.

Washing their hands...

Riding the train.

Jewell and Kaitlyn.

Korizma and Hailey

Ryan, Adalyn and Grayden.

Bald Eagle.

Gray, Turner & Jewell.

Kaitlyn & Jewell

This is what has been taking up a lot of my time and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Alivia and McKinley

Elaina, Elizabeth, Alivia & McKinley

Kennedy, Kaitlyn, Allie & Clare

TK Photography is Kaitlyn's city league team.

Last week we were asked to play on a traveling team that would be in a tournament. We were so excited and thrilled to be asked. So after we played our city league game, we headed to Maumelle to play in a 2-day tournament.

Kaitlyn and Karlea as we entered the ball park.

Little sis Kenleigh waiting for the game to start. We bought her a princess chair and she didn't move out of that chair the entire time. She was glued to all three ballgames that day.

Heather and Kenny waiting for the game to start.

Karlea & Kaitlyn watching the game before theirs.

Rachel, the coaches daughter.

Nevea & Rachel.

Nevea, Rachel and Jasmine.

Ashton & Kaley

Kaitlyn and Karlea

Ellie and Abbott

Sarah, our dugout helper.

Kenleigh waiting for the third game to start.

The Team: Red Rockets. Go Rockets!!

Emily enjoying her slush puppy.

Emily & Kenleigh

Kenleigh and I before her T-ball game a few weeks ago which was very, very hot!! Watching these little ones is too funny!!

Hitting the ball.

She is Mommy's Little Slugger!!

So, this is just a little bit of what we have been up to. We are busy, busy, busy!! I haven't blogged in a long time, but maybe I can do better since I am out for the summer. I am enjoying my summer so far and love being able to be off with my girls. God has truly blessed me with a wonderful family and a wonderful job.

Please pray for my father-in-law as the chemo is taking a toll on his body and they are having to make a decision as to whether or not they can continue with it or not. Thanks so much!!

LORI

Kenleigh's First T-Ball Game

2011-05-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

I have not blogged in a very long time. I love my new job but have absolutely no time to blog anymore. I barely have time to get my laundry done, lol!! I am looking forward to my first summer break since I was a teenager. Both girls are playing ball this year and Kenleigh had her first game last Saturday, although the other team didn't show up so we split the team up and played against each other. It was one of the cutest and funniest things I have ever watched. And then after we got home my husband informed me that one of the little girls that was on first base was playing in the dirt and made a rainbow. She told Kenny that God made rainbows and that Jesus rose on Easter Sunday. What a Blessing!!

Kenleigh and her BFF Hannah!!

Adrian and Kenleigh.

Jenna and Sophie!! Sooooo cute!!!!

Micah and Riley

Kenleigh and Hannah in the dugout!

Jaiden

Coach Nicholas showing Kenleigh how to bat.

Kenleigh, Mr. Tony and Hannah. It is snack time in the dugout!!

Brady coming in home.

Kenleigh and Daddy on first base.

Hannah and Kenleigh AGAIN!!

After the game, we went and ate at Fuji's, our most favorite place to eat!! She was out like a light!! Playing T-ball and eating Japanese food is hard work.

It has been busy, busy, busy but I wouldn't have it any other way!!

LORI

Snow, snow and more snow.......

2011-02-11T05:19:00.000-08:00

This is my third day off in a row. We have received about 6 inches of snow this week. We have had more snow this year than I can ever remember. Here in Arkansas, I can remember years when we didn't get any snow at all, but not this year. It has actually been kind of nice. This is my first year to work at the school, so when the kids are out, I am out although we will have to make these days up, but at least I get to be with my kids whether we are home or at school, so I can't complain. The first round of snow we got, my youngest was sick and my husband had been working shift work, so we didn't get to get out in it. The next few snows were not really enough to get out in and play. But this week, well, it is a different story. They news stations have been preparing us for this "Snowplosion" as one weather man called it, for about a week now. Just as luck would have it, my husband was off the day that we got all the snow and the next day, so we could get out and play in it. A 4-wheeler plus a sled equals fun, fun, fun!!! We have had our fun and now I am ready for some warmer weather and some softball. I have to brag on my oldest daughter. She is quite the shortstop and I can't wait to see her play some softball!!

The snow had just started and we were on our way up the hill to Granny and Papaw's for a big country breakfast!! Yummy!!

Kaitlyn and Kenleigh with Papaw on the golf cart.

Our little house during the snowplosion.

The girls about to sled!!

Kenleigh sledding by herself.

She giggled the entire time!!

Kaitlyn and I sledding together. We both got knocked off!!

Papaw with his dog Oscar.

Now, I am ready for some softball and flip flops!!

LORI

Long Time, No Blog.........

2010-12-28T06:10:00.000-08:00

I was looking at my blog yesterday and realized I had not blogged since the first day of school, which was back in August. With my new job as a teacher's aide, I am one busy girl. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my new job. I feel as though I am making a difference in all my little kiddos' life. I love everyone of them as though they were my own. But with my new job and two little red-headed girls to keep up with, there is no time left for blogging. I do miss it and I miss reading other peoples blog, but my family must come first. After getting home in the evening, we have homework, supper, baths, etc., etc. My youngest is in preschool and we also do the HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) program, so she actually has homework as well, which she thinks is neat. I am now on Christmas break, which I absolutely love. This time last year I was a medical transcriptionist at home and was absolutely miserable. My kids were out of school and I didn't get to spend any time with them as I had to work the entire two weeks, even Christmas Eve. So I thank God for placing me where he did when he did. God is good.......all the time!!!

There is so much that has happened over the last four months and I would love to share everything, but there is just too much to share, so I am just going to highlight on the events that mean the most to me. Every year our small little town has a fall festival called Funfest where we have a parade and different vendors set up around town, etc. My husband's grandfather passed away a year ago this past September and so we rode in the parade to commemorate "Pa". We had shirts made and the entire family rode on the float. It turned out really nice. Here are some of the pictures from the parade/float.

Jacob, Madison and Kaitlyn (great grandchildren).

Jacob, Madison, Kaitlyn, Johnathon and Kenleigh

Uncle Ronald and Naomi

Michael and his girlfriend Destiny rode in this tractor behind us. This is also what they took to the prom the year prior.

My crazy brother-in-law, Johnny.

Tina and Jason

Lesa

Kaitlyn, Madison, Jacob and Peyton

Angela. She is the one that got all this together. She did a great job!!

Lizzie, McKenzie, Danielle and Miranda

Here we all are.

Jacob rode on the front on this tractor. Pa would be so proud.

We love and miss you Pa!!

Another big event was my 15 year class reunion. It was a weekend long event. This was back in October. We went to the homecoming football game on Friday night. Here are the girls in their bulldog gear.

Saturday at noon we had a picnic and we brought our kids to play on the playground. This is how many classmates we had show up for the picnic.

Saturday night we had a banquet at the Country Club catored by Who Dat's, yummy!!!

Mandy, Jennifer and me.

Me and my BFF Jennifer.

All the classmates that made it.

Jennifer, Mandy, Lori and Lori, Cassandra and Stephanie.

Another big event that I participated in for the first time was Race For the Cure. I had a great time. This is me and my BFF Shannon in front of a portapotty that was decorated like a milk carton.

Shannon and I.

Me, Amanda, Amy and Shannon

These were the shirts we wore. My friend Shannon works at a daycare and they had these shirts made.

I ran into one of my friends and her daughter who is my daughters best friend.

The next part of my post is the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas of course.

Kenleigh with Santa at preschool. She had breakfast with Santa on her last day of preschool.

Uncle John and Aunt Becky Christmas Eve

My mom Christmas Eve

Kenleigh with her favorite gift at Mimi's.

Johnny and Angela, Christmas Eve

Johnathon and Granny

Papaw

Kenleigh and Kenny

Lacey and Kaitlyn

Kenny and Johnny

Tina arriving at granny's.

Kaitlyn and Kenleigh's gift from Aunt Tina and Uncle Jason. It was a RV with barbies. They are loving this gift!!

Kenleigh with her Jesse and Woody dolls. Her most favorite gift from granny and papaw.

Kaitlyn with a DS game.

Johnathon with his gift card.

Lacey with one of her gifts.

Kenny with his hoodie.

Kenleigh and Johnathon chowing down on some beef jerkey.

Johnny with his gifts.

Ma enjoyed watching the kids open their gifts.

Lacey, Johnathon, Kenleigh and Kaitlyn.

Ma and Brenda.

Kenleigh, Lacey, Kim and Kaitlyn, Christmas Day at Johnny and Angela's.

Granny and papaw, Christmas Day.

Kaitlyn and Ma.

Grandma Boyles and Johnathon.

Kenleigh and Johnathon.

Mom and Aunt Pam.

Kenleigh, Johnathon and Kaitlyn enjoying Christmas Day.

Me and my daddy.

Daddy, me and my brother Justin.

Uncle Justin with the girls.

Aunt Pam with the girls.

Me and my mom!!

Kenleigh with her Alphie

Kaitlyn with another DS game.

Me with my wonderful husband, Kenny.

My girls!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year!!! Hopefully I can blog again soon, maybe Spring Break!!

LORI

First Day of School

2010-09-06T19:57:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn and Kenleigh the first day of school. Kaitlyn is entering the 2nd grade and Kenleigh is starting to preschool, and mom is going back to school too to be an elementary teacher's aide. I am so excited.

First day of school outfits!!

Kenleigh and I before school.

Here are the girls outside with their backpacks. Kaitlyn's is Wizards of Waverly Place and Kenleigh's is Barbie that Granny and Papaw got her.

Kaitlyn and I.

Kenleigh at her new preschool!! She was so excited.

Kenleigh in front of the preschool sign.

For years now it has been a tradition to have a back to school party where we have a party at the house the first day of school and everybody gets to tell about their first day of school. I got this idea from a friend I used to work with. Thanks Jill!!

All the back to school guests: Kaitlyn, Lacey, Johnathon, Sarah, Kenleigh and Jayden. We had a giant sized cookie and I also made dirt cake.

Granny and Kenleigh.

Lacey after eating some of the giant cookie!!

Sorry it has taken me so long to get this posted. I love my new job but am very tired when I get home in the evenings, so I don't always have time to get on my computer. I hope everybody is doing well. I miss getting to blog and to read everybody's blog.

LORI

New Beginnings

2010-08-18T04:58:00.000-07:00

I have not blogged in a while. I have been busy or just wanting to spend some quality time with my kiddos although I don't have them right now. My sister-in-law came and got them yesterday. She wanted to spend some time with them before school starts. My girls absolutely love their aunt Tina. They would move in with her if I would let them. She is just as much of a kid as they are. She gets in the floor and plays barbies with them and just focuses all of her time on them while they are there.

Tomorrow will be the first day of school and I am full of all different kinds of emotions: Nervous, excited, sad, etc.!! Kenleigh will start to preschool. She is 3 and has never been in a day-care or preschool. She has always either been with me, my mom or my mother-in-law. So I am nervous about her starting to school although I know she will do fine. She is very excited. She has already been to the preschool and visited for a few hours and absolutely loved it and wanted to go back. Kaitlyn will be a big 2nd grader. I cannot believe she is already in the 2nd grade. It just doesn't seem possible. I will be starting a new job at the same school where my children will be which is great!! I am so excited but I am nervous. I have been praying for this for a long time now. I worked at a medical center for 7.5 years as a medical transcriptionist and then lost my job there and came home to be a in-home medical transcriptionist, which everyone thinks is great right? Not exactly. I lost all my benefits, retirement etc. So I have been trying to get a job at the school for the last couple of years now. I even took some courses last semester in order to get my CDA (Child Development Associate) that way I would have a better chance of getting hired in the preschool or in elementary if something became available. I believe good things come to those who wait. I have been waiting for a long time, but I am still a little nervous but so looking forward to tomorrow. I am going to be a teacher's aide in the elementary school.

I have the girls' backpacks and first day of school clothes laid out as well as mine. We are going to have a back to school party as we always do but this year will be extra special since Kenleigh and mommy will both be going to school. I will post pictures from that later. I hope everyone has a great first day of school and please say a prayer for me and my kiddos. God is good...................All the time!!

LORI

Branson Vacation July 2010

2010-08-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

We headed out on a Friday morning and we basically drove straight through to Branson which is around 3.5 hours from our house. We stopped a couple of times for potty breaks and gas. We had intended on stopping at a place that I absolutely love to eat called Ferguson's Country Store and Restaurant in St. Joe, Arkansas, but we had stopped at McDonald's that morning to get a small breakfast. As a matter of fact we just went through the drive-thru, didn't even go in. All I got was a egg mcmuffin. Trying to stay on Weight Watchers as best I can while on vacation. So by the time we got to St. Joe, I nor was anyone else all that hungry. So I hated to waist money and food if I wasn't actually hungry. So we arrived at Branson around 1 in the afternoon and our room was not ready yet, so by this time we were starving!! So we went down to the Branson Landing and found a place my brother-in-law and sister-in-law had told us about, Texas Land and Cattle. It was a steak house and it was a really neat place.

Here are the girls at Texas Land and Cattle.

Kenleigh is trying on my sunglasses.

This was right outside from where we sat. Loved the view.

Kenny and I.

Here are the girls at the Landing. They found a rock they wanted to have their picture made on.

Kenleigh liked walking down the sidewalk at the Landing and seeing the ducks, boats, etc.

Next stop was the Bass Pro Shop, which is not near as the big as the one in Springfield, but it was still nice. We got some really good candy there and took back to the motel.

I love this picture of the girls. It is in front of a big fish tank.

Here they are on a bench that looks like a fish behind them. I thought this was pretty neat.

This was inside the Bass Pro.

The girls had to go to the bathroom of course and I just thought this was neat so I made them stop for a picture. It doesn't take much to amuse me. Ha!!

Kenleigh wanted her picture made by this fake tree stump at the Bass Pro.

So that was the end to our first day. Kenleigh went right on to her pull out bed that her and Kaitlyn slept in. I did not sleep good both nights as I don't sleep well away from home plus I was afraid Kenleigh would fall out of the bed and she did the second night because Kaitlyn pushed her out in her sleep. She was fine though and so was I after I put her in bed with me.

The next day we got up and headed to a breakfast buffet because we were going to be going to the Dixie Stampede that night and if you have ever been there then you know, you get lots and lots of food, so I told everyone we would not be eating any lunch, so we ate a big breakfast and then headed to some bumper boats and go carts. Kaitlyn drove her own, Kenny and Kenleigh rode in one and I rode in one.

When it was time to come back, Kaitlyn couldn't seem to find her way back, bless her heart. I had a little trouble too, so I could sympathize with her.

Now we are ready to ride the go carts although Kaitlyn and Kenleigh both were mad because they couldn't drive.

Kenleigh and I are ready to take off!!

Next back to the motel for some swimming and relaxing before our big show.

Last, but certainly not least was our big show to the Dixie Stampede. If you have never been, you should really go. I recommend the Christmas show. It is really the best. This was the first time for Kenleigh and the third time for Kaitlyn and I and Kenny's second time. You get lots of food and the entertainment is great and we had front row. Kaitlyn had a rose thrown to her by one of the actors.

After the show we went back to our room and rested for a bit and then we walked down to the Landing and Kaitlyn got a new backpack for school from the Disney store and then we listened to a live band and just walked around. We left early the next morning heading back home as we had a birthday party to get to that afternoon. I always have a great time on vacation but always look forward to getting back home in my own bed.

LORI

Swimming Lessons

2010-08-05T05:34:00.000-07:00

And we are off to swimming lessons...........although Kenleigh didn't take swimming lessons, she was always excited about going to watch her big sister Kaitlyn.

She has got her woggle goggles on as she calls them from the show Imagination Movers.

This was Kaitlyn's 3rd year to do the beginners swimming lessons. We did the mom and me class when she was a baby.

This is one of the friends she made while at swimming lessons, Emily!!

Kaitlyn posing for me.

Here she is trying to dive off the diving board although I am not quite sure what this is?? LOL!!

This was after she jumped, dove off the diving board.

Her daddy and I feel it is very important to take swimming lessons. Next year Kenleigh will get to start.

I just want to apologize for my last post. It was long and messed up. I couldn't get all the pictures and the captions straight and I was tired of messing with it. I had been working on that post for two days, so I was ready to post it.

Next post will be about our summer vacation to Branson, stay tuned..............

LORI

We Have Been Very Busy................

2010-08-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

I have not blogged in a month!! I will do good for a while and then get behind. July was a very, very busy month for us. We had VBS, swimming lessons, vacation, etc. So I will try to bring you up to date if I can, but I am warning you my memory is terrible. I am going to go by my pictures. This will be a very, very long post. I apologize in advance.

This first picture is of Kaitlyn and her daddy before going on a fishing trip in daddy's boat. I tried to get him to take the camera with him but he didn't want to lose it, so I just snapped a picture of them before they left. I packed her a bag with snacks and drinks in it. Looking out for my babies (yes Kenny too!) Ha!! Kaitlyn caught two fish that day. Just imagine them since I don't have a picture.

One accomplishment Kenleigh has made this summer is using her arm floaties to swim with. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law have a pool and she loves swimming in their pool with her arm floaties all by herself.

Next, was the 4th of July. We had a cookout at my house and then after we all ate, we went to my brother-in-law and sister-in-laws house to swim. Here are the girls with my best friends daughter Karlie enjoying the rotel dip!!

Here is Papaw after getting his belly full!!

Then we all went swimming!! This is Melinda and Brian, my husbands cousin and her husband.

My sister-in-law Angela taking a breaking from the pool to get a snack.

My mother-in-law and one of her sister's Pam.

Kaitlyn trying to get a hold of the swim board.

Me with my BFF Kim.

My brother-in-law Johnny!!


Kaitlyn and Karlie posing.

This is Kaitlyn and I before the Patriotic Program at church July 4th.

Kaitlyn and Kenleigh before the program.

Jaden and Kenleigh before the program.

Jaden and Kenleigh during the program. Kaitlyn during the program.

Kaitlyn and Kenleigh marching during the program. They were so cute.

Sarah, Kaitlyn, Kenleigh and Jaden

Cousins!!

Kenleigh with daddy at Higgison before the fireworks. She was so excited. I think this was the first fireworks we had ever taken her to. I don't have any pictures of Kaitlyn due to she freaked out on us. She had a panic attack. She didn't like the fireworks. It was awful. She was shaking, just a mess. I guess next time we will leave her with someone else.

Here is Kenleigh helping daddy one day on trying to get the dryer leveled out. She loves to work on things.

Here is my 2 and 3 year old class at Saddle Ridge Ranch VBS. Notice my Kenleigh is giving the peace sign!!

This was my 4 and 5-year-old class from VBS.

Here are my kindergartners.

Kenleigh and Kaitlyn during the night of the closing program of VBS.

My aunt Pam came to visit sometime during the month of July and we went to eat at Cracker Barrel, one of my favorite places to eat and the girls wanted to sit in the little rocking chairs.

Now we go into Kaitlyn's softball party where her entire team received trophies from their coach. This was at the Pizza Pro and there was man there that made the girls something out of a balloon. Kenleigh picked out a ladybug wrist balloon. This is Kenleigh with her friend that she made at the ballpark this year Jaylen. Kaitlyn played ball with her older sister.

Kaitlyn with her trophy and her turtle wrist balloon and her BFF Karlea since they were 18 months old.

Jazmine and Kaitlyn.

Taryn and Kaitlyn and then Kaitlyn with Olivia.

Kaitlyn with her team and with coaches Dewayne and Bobby. We had such a great year.

Karlie, Taryn, Kaitlyn, and Haven.

Heather and I (Karlea's Mom).

This is all for now. I will have to do the rest another night. I have been working on this post for two nights. We still have swimming lessons and vacation.

LORI

Favorite Foto Friday

2010-07-02T07:38:00.000-07:00

It is Friday, thank goodness!! I am participating in FFF. If you would like to join in the fun, just join Hannah over at Me-Me and Monkey's BIG Adventure. This week is U-Pick.

Last weekend was very, very busy for us. As I told you in my earlier post, one of my brothers will be leaving next Thursday for Afghanistan. He didn't think he was going to be able to come home before being deployed, but at the last minute he contacted me via FB to let me know he was coming in. So I made plans last Friday to go see him on Saturday and then on Sunday we had a birthday party and while we were at the birthday party, my husband took my mother-in-law to the hospital because she was having chest pains. So it was a busy, busy weekend. So I thought I would share some of the photos from last weekend for today. I hope you enjoy!!

My brother was going to visit his two boys while in town and he had gotten a book called Over There and it talks about the same things that he will be doing while he is gone that we do over here. It was a really neat book and he was reading it to Kenleigh. So sweet!!

My daddy and brother Jason.

Here we all are laughing pretty hard about something?? Anyways: Daddy, Jason, Kenleigh, Kaitlyn, Me and my Aunt Pam.

Here is Jason with his wife Jamie.

Please say a special prayer for her. I can't imagine what she must be going through. My husband has never been away from me except for a few nights here and there.

Now on to Sunday........Here are all the guests from the double birthday party. This slide was a hit!! The kids absolutely loved it, except Kenleigh. I think she was just a little too small for it. She came down really, really fast and then hit the water face first and got water all in her eyes. So she spent most of her time either here:

In this little playhouse where she could open and shut the door, or on the trampoline below. I was wore out by the end of the day because I had to take her around to three different places. She thought she wanted to get on the slide, so I would put her in and then she decided she didn't want in there. What we do for our children!!

Happy 6th Birthday to Cloyee and Reece!!

These were the kids that were left after the party and they played on the slide forever!! Reece and Cloyee, Zoei, Karlie and Kaitlyn.

Here is Gavin and Kenleigh. I think she has found her a little boyfriend. They played in the little house together and now they are eating out of their goody bags!!

I hope everyone has a very Happy 4th!!

LORI

Shoot Me 5 of 52

2010-07-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

I know I have not blogged in a while and I apologize but I have been very, very busy. I am working on VBS and plus I am participating in a Beth Moore Bible study on Wednesday nights and there is homework with it and I never get it all done but I do try to do some of it, so I have not had any time for blogging!!

This past weekend I went to see one of my brothers who will be deploying next Thursday. Please say a special prayer for him. He is 26 and will leave behind a wife and 5 kids. He wasn't sure if he would be able to come home before being deployed and so I just thank God for him getting to come in and me getting to visit with him before he leaves. I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. I am so looking forward to it. The kids are participating in a Patriotic Program at church on Sunday night and then our Bible school starts Monday night, so it may be a while before I get to blog again. Hopefully I can get back soon.

My Brother Jason and I

Shoot Me! It's time to stop hiding behind that camera of yours. Your family is missing you in the picture. So it's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did! And just jump in now with 1 of 52, you can do it!

LORI

Chocoholic

2010-06-14T09:58:00.000-07:00

Kenleigh came into the living room the other night and had a cookies and cream Hershey kiss. I immediately asked her where she got it from, knowing that it was up on the bar where she could not reach. She quickly answered me that she had went and got her stool. A few days later she asked if she could have some chocolate. We have been having some major tummy issues and so I always promise her if she poops in the potty she can have a piece of chocolate. I guess maybe it is my fault she has turned into such a chocoholic!! Anyways, thanks to PediaLax Fiber-Gummies I think we have resolved that issue!! Praise the Lord. So back, to the question she had asked me about could she have a piece of chocolate. I told her no, we had to eat lunch first. She then asked me to go to the living room so she could get a piece of chocolate. I literally laughed out lot!! I thought she is something else. She has got it all figured out. She thinks if I go to another room where I can't see her, then she can get her candy. She is just like her daddy. That sounds like something mischievous he would do.

LORI

Music Monday/Your Song With Your Significant Other

2010-06-14T05:05:00.000-07:00

Today is Music Monday and the theme for this week is "Song with your significant other." Oh, how this seems like it was yesterday. I don't know the particulars or how it happened but it has just always been known that this was mine and my husband's song. Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton.

I don't really care for the ending on this particular video but the ones that I wanted to use would not allow you to embed the codes.

I have two songs. I will never forget the first time I heard this song, my husband told me that this was his song to me. Oh, how it melted my heart!! She Don't Know She's Beautiful by Sammy Kershaw.

If you would like to join in the fun today, just hop on over to Tara's Blog and link up. I hope everybody has a great week and a Happy Music Monday.

LORI

My Little Short Stop

2010-06-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of Kaitlyn. This is her third year to play softball, second year in the 8 and under league and her and her daddy work out in the yard for hours sometimes and it is hot. All that hard work has paid off. The last two or three ballgames she has done an excellent job playing short stop. She has stopped some fast, hard balls that I myself would be scared to death to try to catch if they were coming after me!! She has had a great time and we have so enjoyed watching her and all of her teammates. We are finished with all of our regularly scheduled games but will start tournaments on Monday. I can't wait!! I get so excited. She has made her mommy and daddy so proud.

LORI

One Year Blogoversary!!

2010-06-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today is my one year blogoversary!! I knew nothing about blogging until a little over a year ago when I received an e-mail asking for prayer for a little girl and there was a link that you could go to and read more about it. That is when I was introduced to the blog world. Abby's Army is a blog dedicated to Abby and her diagnosis and updates. This little girl lives about 40 miles north of me. I wanted to leave a comment when I read this and didn't know how and that is when I got me a Google account and I thought this looks interesting. I used to scrapbook all the time. My oldest daughter has like five scrapbooks and my youngest doesn't even have one full one!! I know, don't throw tomatoes at me!! I thought this would be a good way to keep up with the many blessings that God has blessed me with and also to tell you all about my father-in-law and his cancer.

I have met so many people and I just want to say thank you to all the followers, all the comments, all the fun blog carnivals and I could just go on and on.

I don't have any giveaways to give you but I am going to tell you about a great giveaway that ends on Monday. So you will have to act fast. I haven't talked a whole lot about my weight loss mainly I guess because when I started back on WW I was on a blogging hiatus due to going back to school. But I joined WW in February and I have lost 21.5 pounds to date. I found this great giveaway on facebook. Crissy over at Dear Crissy is having an awesome Weight Watchers giveaway. If you are a member of WW, thinking about becoming a member of WW, struggling with weight etc., hop on over and visit Crissy. I struggle with getting in exercise.

I am now up to 53 followers. That really excites me. I would have never thought a year ago that I would have this many followers. I hope to meet many more friends and to grow closer to the ones I already have.

I know you are supposed to give something away or have everybody comment with some questions that you ask, but to be honest with you, I am so tired. We have been somewhere every night this week. So, here is what I will have you do, if you like my blog, just leave me a comment and that would make me one happy girl. I am not hard to please.

LORI

My Cause

2010-06-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

My father-in-law was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in the summer of 2008. We had no idea what type of cancer this was. We have all learned a lot about this type of blood cancer and my mother-in-law has had to basically become a nurse through all of this and she has done a wonderful job. They had to move to Little Rock that summer while he was undergoing treatments. He has been through cancer treatments and 2 stem cell transplants and our best Christmas gift in 2009 was they told us that he was in "FULL REMISSION." PRAISE GOD!! He is still undergoing treatments but it is maintenance chemo and will continue to do this for a couple of years. We just thank God for seeing us all through this time. He started out having trouble with his vision and went to the eye doctor and found out he was anemic and the tests just went from there. He was lucky to have found it as early as he did. You can always looks around and see someone worse off than you. He has a lot to be thankful for: God, his family, his church family and the fact that it was caught early and UAMS was able to have him in remission within 6 months time.

Favorite Foto Friday/What We Like Now

2010-06-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

I am joining Hannah over at Me-Me and Monkey's big adventure for Favorite Foto Friday and today's theme is what we love now. Well, seeing as how we have had such a busy week, there are lots of things we like right now!! First of all Kenleigh has been to my brother-in-laws church all week for Bible School. She has never been anywhere like this without me and I was a little nervous but she absolutely loved it and I am so glad she had the opportunity to go.

Kaitlyn got to go a few nights but she had three ballgames this week, so she didn't make it every night.

As you can see, Kenleigh is waiting and excited about going to Bible School.

Kaitlyn is into softball right now. Tonight was our last scheduled game. We should start tournaments next week. We had three ballgames this week.

Here is Kaitlyn with her friend Karlea. They have been friends since they were 2. They have got to play on the same team twice since we started playing ball.

This is what I like right now. I actually love and am addicted to these things. I usually get two packages of them on Saturday after I weigh in at Weight Watchers. I know that is terrible. But I don't eat both packages. My husband likes them too. So we eat on them over the weekend. This is my reward for doing good all week.

LORI

Shoot Me 4 of 52

2010-06-11T20:32:00.000-07:00

I am a little late getting this post on but it has been a busy, busy week!! As I told you in my Music Monday post, me and my BFF were going out for my birthday dinner on Monday night and we did and we had a great time. It is a tradition that we always go to Colton's for my birthday in May and her birthday in December and we eat together, visit and exchange gifts. I always looks forward to this time together.

I took this picture and I feel like I look like awful. I am squinting my eyes, but oh well. I had a great time.

My favorite scent used to be, like 11 years ago, was Vanilla Lace from Victoria's Secret and they discontinued it a long time ago. Well, my BFF Kim found it!! Oh, I was so excited when I opened this gift. Thanks Kim, you are the best!!

Also, a gift card to Penney's. Yay!! Thanks Kim for making my birthday so special. You are the greatest!! Love ya!!

I am joining Carin over at Forever in Blue Jeans for this every Thursday blog carnival.

LORI

My how she has grown......

2010-06-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks, I have noticed that my oldest daughter is not a little girl anymore and it makes me sad. She is growing up way too fast. She doesn't have those "little girl" features anymore. She likes to put on a little lip gloss and she does such a good job of it and then she looks even older. I know you should be happy that your children are growing and learning new things, but it just makes me sad. I really notice it in these pictures. This is her third year to play softball. So here are all of her pictures from the last three years.

2008 T-ball

2009 First year of 8 and under league.

2010 2nd year of 8 and under league.

My dearest Kaitlyn, you have made me so proud. I love you more than you will ever know. You have turned out to be one heck of a ball player. Keep up the good work and always put God first in your life.

LORI

Music Monday

2010-06-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

Today is Music Monday and I am joining Tara over at Keeping Up With The Kelly's. I hope everyone had a great weekend. I got some much needed cleaning done around my house. If you read my post from last week about my holiday weekend then you know that my dad came to visit me for my birthday. My mom and dad divorced when I was almost 2. We didn't have a very good relationship growing up. He was an alcoholic. About 4 years ago he admitted himself to a Christian Rehab and has been alcohol free for that long as well. I am so proud of him. We see each other occasionally and I am thankful he has changed his life and I am also thankful that I have forgiven him of the past and that we can move forward in our relationship. Although we still don't know each other just real well and I don't always know what to say around him, I pray the Lord will keep us together as often as possible that way we can get to know each other better.

My mom took me to eat at IHOP on Saturday as a late birthday present. The IHOP that we eat at always has the music going a little loud, which doesn't bother me any. This song came on and my mom told me it was her and my daddy's song when they were dating. I said then, this will have to be my Music Monday post. When my dad was here last weekend, my mom and dad had road to town together and I was grilling burgers. I asked my husband if we should wait on mom and daddy to get back before we ate. I then said, I never thought I would be saying that. I am just glad they get along, and it never hurts, even at 33 to wish that your parents would get back together now does it?

I hope everybody has a great week. We have a busy one. Me and my BFF are going out tonight for my birthday dinner. My husband says I drag my birthday out for a month!! Tuesday and Thursday are softball games and Wednesday is Bible study.

LORI

Shoot Me 3 of 52

2010-06-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

I am participating in fun blog carnival called Shoot Me! Read below. If you would like to join in the fun, just join Carin over at Forever in Blue Jeans.

Shoot Me! It's time to stop hiding behind that camera of yours. Your family is missing you in the picture. So it's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did! And just jump in now with 1 of 52, you can do it!

Here is another picture from Memorial Weekend. I saved this one for today's blog carnival.

I hope everyone is having a good week. We are having a busy, busy week. Ballgames, Bible Study, swimming!! Awww......the joys of summertime.

LORI

The Tooth Fairy Forgot...........

2010-06-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn lost a tooth this past weekend. She had asked me to look at her bottom tooth before we went to bed on Saturday because she thought maybe there was a tooth coming in behind it. I told her I would look at the next morning. So the minute she got out of bed she had me look and she got in front of the mirror and started working with it and it wasn't five minutes until it was out. She had said all day that she was going to spend the night with Granny. That was all she talked about was spending the night with Granny. We had company and I told her that she could go to Granny's later on. At the last minute she decided she didn't want to stay with Granny. She told me probably an hour before bedtime she was going to put the tooth under her pillow. The next morning she came to my room with the tooth and a sad face. Oh, I felt horrible. Granny called to tell me that apparently the tooth fairy thought she was going to be at her house and made a visit to her house. I told her to go back and check her bed and she found $5 plus this note and money from the tooth fairy below:

She didn't want me taking this picture because she had just gotten out of bed when she pulled this tooth. Thank you Kaitlyn for being cooperative.

Next time Kaitlyn needs to not change her mind at the last minute. She has two more loose, so hopefully the tooth fairy won't forget or I mean go to the wrong place next time.

LORI

Memorial Weekend Finale

2010-05-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

What a weekend. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful group of family and friends. I hope and pray everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. Today was my birthday and I received such a blessed birthday!! First we went to a cookout at my dear friend Steven and Shannon's. They surprised me with a birthday cake and made me tear up. I didn't realize I was loved by so many people. When I got home, I had over 100 messages on facebook from friends wishing me a happy birthday. This evening we went to another cookout at some friends from church's house. They had a slip-n-slide set up and and the kids had a blast. Kenleigh fell in the mud, but it didn't bother her any. I just want to thank everybody for making my birthday and this holiday weekend so wonderful. God has truly blessed me and my family!!

The Mitchell Family

Kenleigh and Jacob

Shannon and I. Thanks for having us!!

Me with my cake. Thanks so much!!

Shannon, Me and Amanda

Amanda, Shannon, Anna Bell and Tiffany

Jacob, Alex, Kaitlyn, Kenleigh and Garrett

Amanda and Chris

Cookout #1 - Shannon and Steven's House!! Thanks so much guys for having us and making my birthday one I will never forget!!

Cookout #2 at Mrs. Joyce's House. Here are the girls in their new bathing suits. Mrs. Joyce had a slip-n-slide set up. They had a blast as you will see below.

Connie and Kenny

Kenleigh after she fell in the mud and the rest of the gang.

Kenleigh and Lanie and daddy's finger showing off all the mud. She had it caked in her ear!! How did she do that??

Kaitlyn after the slip-n-slide.

Kenleigh and Lanie on the mary go round!! Kenleigh loves the mary go round.

Kaitlyn on the teeter totter.

Our cousin Jaden on the teeter totter.

Jaden and Kenleigh

Mrs. Joyce's husband and uncle both have served on behalf of our country before and she had a table set up with their pictures. I just want to thank all the soldiers who have made it possible for us to have the freedoms that we have today.

LORI

Music Monday/From the 80's

2010-05-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

It is Music Monday again and I am joining Tara over at Keeping Up With The Kelly's. This weeks theme is From the 80's. I have to be honest with you, I did not care for much 80's music. I was born in 1977, 33 years ago today to be exact!! Happy Birthday to me!! I really like 70's music better. But I googled 80's music to see what there was and I did find some songs that I liked from the 80's. I was crazy about John Bon Jovi!! I had a poster of him on my wall when I was a teenager as well as Kirk Cameron. I also like the Eagles. I am going to share a couple of songs that I like from the 80's. It seems every song holds meaning to us. This song reminds me of when my husband and I broke up for a short period of time during our dating years. It was two weeks but seemed like two years to me!! Anyways, it seems like I heard this song the entire time we were broke up. I would just cry every time I heard it. Although this happened in the 90s, this song is from the 80s.

This is Air Supply Making Love Out of Nothing At All

Here is Bon Jovi Livin' On A Prayer

I will leave you with this last one. Cindi Lauper's Girls Just Want To Have Fun.

I can't wait to see what everybody else puts for this post since I did grow up in the 80's, big hair and all!! I hope everybody has a wonderful Memorial Day. Hop on over to Tara's blog. Happy Memorial Day and Music Monday!!

LORI

Memorial Weekend Part I

2010-05-30T16:41:00.000-07:00

I am so blessed this weekend to be surrounded by such wonderful friends and family. Yesterday was my mother-in-laws birthday and tomorrow is my birthday. My dad and my aunt lives about 2 hours away and I wanted to see them this weekend but I really didn't want to drive over there, so I invited them over for a cookout and invited my in-laws and my mom. We had a wonderful day. My husband and father-in-law took my dad driving around doing the "man thing" because if your guys are anything like my guys, they can't sit still for very long. My aunt brought me a wonderful cake and ice cream and we had hamburgers, hot dogs and rotel dip, yummy, yummy!! We have been invited to two more cookouts tomorrow. So I am really looking forward to those. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial weekend. Don't forget what Memorial Day is all about and those who fought for our freedom.

Here is the spread we had yesterday. Chips, rotel, and grilled burgers and hot dogs!!

Here is Kaitlyn and Kenleigh with their patriotic t-shirts and me and my mother-in-law!! The birthday girls.

This is my father-in-law and husband on my in-laws' new golf cart. This is my cake that my wonderful aunt Pam brought me. It was a marble cake and it was so good with blue bell homemade vanilla ice cream!! Unfortunately, I gained 1.5 pounds this last week at Weight Watchers. I promise I will do better this next week. Who can pass up all this wonderful food??

Me with my cake.

Kenleigh on her tricycle that she got for her birthday. She loves it.

My daddy and I. I was so glad he came to visit.

Kaitlyn and aunt Pam and Kaitlyn with Mimi.

Kenleigh on the swing set. She loves to be outside.

The girls before church Memorial weekend.

Kenny and the girls.

Kenny and I before church.

To be continued...........

Awards, Awards, and More Awards!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

Maybe I am just a little bit of a proud mom, but I must say, I was so, so proud of my daughter when I attended her awards ceremony Friday at school. I knew she had all A's and I knew she had perfect attendance but I never dreamed she would walk away with all the awards that she walked off with. She has struggled with Math this year and trying to do homework has been a nightmare, but I am beginning to think that she really knows what she is doing, she is just giving me a hard time about it. She received highest grade in Math, an award for excellent behavior, highest average in spelling, highest average in reading, a trophy for perfect attendance, highest average in accelerated reading, and 2nd place books read in accelerated reading by reading 61 books!! Wow!! Way to go Kaitlyn. Your daddy and I as well as granny, papaw and Mimi are so, so proud of you.

My pictures didn't turn out just real good. The awards ceremony was in the high school gym. But here is Kaitlyn with her boyfriend Levi after receiving her first metal.

Here is Kaitlyn with her cousin Madison. They both received perfect attendance.

Here is Kaitlyn and her friend Katrina.

Here is Kaitlyn with her homeroom teacher, Mrs. Brandy.

Here is Kaitlyn and some of her classmates with Mrs. Shannon.

Kaitlyn and Mrs. Sheila here reading teacher.

Kaitlyn and her BFF's. Breanna, Abreanna and Turner.

I am sad that the year is over with because that means she will be older next time she goes to school. She is growing up way too fast. I am so proud of you baby girl!! Keep up the good work.

LORI

Mrs. Brandy's Surprise Baby Shower

2010-05-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn's home room teacher is having a baby and so some of us moms and the kids got together with the help of some of the other teachers and had a surprise baby shower for her this past week. She was so surprised and excited. The kids were to all bring at least one to two jars of baby food and Mrs. Sheila was going to put all of the baby food in a decorative basket. It turned out really well. The kids all got a cupcake a piece and a drink. Mrs. Brandy got some other gifts as well. Mrs. Brandy has been an awesome teacher and we will truly miss her and Mrs. Sheila next year and we wish Mrs. Brandy all the best with her new bundle of joy.

Here is all her gifts and the cupcake cake that we presented her with.

Mrs. Brandy was scared to death. She didn't know what was going on. She was so surprised. Good job kids!!

Here is one of Mrs. Brandy's gifts. It is a bib that says, "I love my Big Sister." I love it!!

Kenleigh got to go with me to the baby shower. She was so excited to be at sissy's school. She told her the night before that she would be coming to her school the next day for a party!!

Here is Kaitlyn and her best friend since preschool, Alexis.

Here is Kaitlyn with some of her other BFF's Abreanna and Turner.

Good luck and God bless your new addition Mrs. Brandy.

LORI

Breaking Free

2010-05-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

I am so excited!! Our church started another summer ladies Bible study last night. We did this last summer and I so enjoyed it. I work in AWANA all through the school year and am with kids, whom I dearly love, but I also enjoy being with a group of ladies studying God's word. I could listen to Beth Moore all day long. She is just awesome!! If you never heard her speak, you should. I am looking forward to drawing closer to my Savior. Here is Beth's blog if you would like to check it out. I hope that each of you will be able to join some type of Bible study if you get the opportunity. You will truly be blessed.
I will keep you updated as our Bible study goes.

LORI

Shoot Me 2 of 52

2010-05-27T03:48:00.000-07:00

I am joining Carin over at Forever in Blue Jeans for another great blog carnival.

Shoot Me! It's time to stop hiding behind that camera of yours. Your family is missing you in the picture. So it's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did! And just jump in now with 1 of 52, you can do it!

Thanks to my dad, I have had gray hair for as long as I can remember. It had been a while since I had gotten my hair colored and I was in desperate need of a new do!! So last Saturday, I spent 3 hours at the beauty salon to be able to look like this:

My oldest daughter took this picture of my husband and I.

I hope that everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!! Be safe and enjoy being with your family.

If you would like to see more of Shoot Me, join Carin and link up.

LORI

Music Monday

2010-05-24T05:33:00.000-07:00

Today is Monday and you all know what that means, Music Monday with Tara over at Keeping Up With The Kelly's. This week is your pick. As I told you in my "Catching Up" post last week, my oldest daughter participated in a Lip Sync and although my daughter and her BFF did a really cute skit, I really enjoyed another group that participated. There were 6 kids, 3 different couples and they were adorable and they did "I gotta feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas. All the boys dressed as the Chipmunks. My father-in-law sings this song to Kenleigh all the time and she just loves it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. If you would like to see more Music Monday, join Tara and link up. I just want to say thank you to all my new followers and all the people that make comments. I love to hear from you. I hit my 40th follower this weekend. Woo hoo!!

LORI

Better Late Than Never........

2010-05-23T17:11:00.000-07:00

It seems with your first child, you do everything "on time". Pictures, all the firsts ect. Well, my husband brought it to my attention not too long ago that we have lots and lots of pictures of Kaitlyn and hardly any of Kenleigh. So, I was ordered to go get Kenleigh's 3 year pictures made. She was 3 on March 5. I know what you are thinking, that is awful!! But, at least we did it and I must admit, she did great!! Just see what you think. Also, my mother-in-law writes some of the best poems. When my father-in-law found out he had cancer, she would write poems about her feelings and what they were going through etc. She wrote a beautiful poem when her father was in Hospice and then it was read at his funeral. I asked her to write a poem for Kenleigh's 3rd birthday party. She didn't upset, she did awesome too.

Kenleigh's 3rd birthday picture (two month's late).

I messed up when scanning this document, but the poem is entitled "Our Gift".

Thanks Granny.

LORI

I'm Gonna Play Ball Too....

2010-05-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

Even though Kenleigh is not quite old enough to play T-ball yet, her granny and papaw thought she was. They bought her a T-ball set this week at WalMart. She is so excited about it. When we go to Kaitlyn's ballgames she always has to take her ball and glove. Well, now she has her own T-ball set. My father-in-law started chemo again this week, but so far, so good. Praise the Lord. He has not felt good in a long time but as you can see below, him and his little red-headed ball player have enjoyed their week.

Kenleigh and Papaw with her new T-ball set.

There is no stopping her now!! Thanks granny and papaw.

LORI

Favorite Foto Friday/That's What Friends Are For

2010-05-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I participated in FFF, but hey, I am on a roll this week, so what the heck. This weeks theme is "That's What Friends Are For." I am very fortunate to have lots of friends. I don't necessarily have a "best" friend. It seems since I had kids I don't have a lot of time for friends. I would have to say I am probably closer to my mom, mother-in-law and my husband. I feel that is who I talk to the most. But I do have three really close friends that I do talk to on a regular basis. My oldest daughter Kaitlyn is a social butterfly. She has lots of friends. She was voted class favorite last year and I told her that the reason she was voted that is because she is nice to everyone. I tell her it is very important to not make a difference in people. She should treat everyone the way she wants to be treated. Today she had her first field trip and I couldn't get off work. I was very upset about this and as a matter of fact, I hate to admit it but I cried this morning because I couldn't go. I walked her to class and put sunscreen on her and bug spray and got a couple of pictures before they left.

Here is Kaitlyn and her BFF Abreanna before the field trip today.

Here is Kenleigh with her best friends, Papaw and Ma.

This is one of my BFFs Kim and my mom at Kaitlyn's birthday party last November.

Here are my other two BFF's Shannon and Angela at our secret pal reveal party at church last December.

Here is my mother-in-law with her warm and fuzzy blanket she got for Christmas last year.

Here is my husband and I from back in January. He has been my best friend for 17 years!!

If you would like to see more FFF just join Hannah over at Me-Me and Monkey's Big Adventures. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

God Bless,

Lori

Shoot Me 1 of 52

2010-05-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

I am joining Carin over at Forever in Blue Jeans today for a fun blog carnival where YOU are in the picture. Read below to find out more.

Shoot Me! It's time to stop hiding behind that camera of yours. Your family is missing you in the picture. So it's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did! And just jump in now with 1 of 52, you can do it!

Here are me and my girls before Kaitlyn's choir concert the other night. As you can see, they are both being silly.

If you would like to see more, hop on over to Carin's blog and link up.

LORI

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

Kenleigh after her bath.

LORI

Ruby Tuesday

2010-05-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

Here is what we should have been wearing last night:

But instead................

Kaitlyn had a softball game scheduled last night but due to a late afternoon thundershower, it got canceled. :(

So, when I picked her up from school, she says, "If my game gets canceled, can we go to my choir concert?" I had totally forgotten about the choir concert. I had told the choir teacher two weeks ago we would not be able to make it to the concert due to her ballgame and I had already thrown the paper away telling about the choir concert. So, even though I had much rather been at a softball game cheering on my daughter and her team, we ended up making her choir concert after all, which was nice also. Hopefully we will get to wear what we were supposed to have worn last night, tonight!!

If you would like to see more Ruby Tuesday, just join Mary

over at Work of the Poet and link up to see more Ruby Tuesday.

LORI

Music Monday

2010-05-16T15:54:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Music Monday. I will be working :( so I am going ahead and posting this afternoon. I guess I should be thankful to have a job and I am, it just may not be the job I want right now. Anyways, that is just something I have to pray about.

I forgot to mention in my "catching up" post on Friday that I joined Weight Watchers back in February and I am proud to say that I have lost 18 pounds total. I am so excited. I never really had a problem with my weight until after I had my kids and I just seem to go up and down. After the birth of my first child, I did WW and I lost 25 pounds and was very happy with myself and then I quit going and I gained my weight back. After the birth of my second child I counted calories because I thought that would be closer than keeping up with points and I did lose but I just think that WW is the best plan. It is actually a lifestyle change.

Now on to Music Monday. I am joining Tara over at Keeping Up With the Kelly's for Music Monday. I have not done this in a long time. This week's theme is from your college or post high-school days. I had just started to college when this song came out and I absolutely loved it. I remember my husband and I cruising town and listening to this song all the time before we were married. The title is "Dust On The Bottle" by David Lee Murphy. I hope you enjoy the song and don't forget to join Tara and all the others that have linked up for Music Monday.

I hope everyone has a good week. Kaitlyn is supposed to have a softball game Monday and Tuesday but it is raining pretty hard here right now so the fields may be too wet for her to play tomorrow night. We will see.

LORI

Cathing Up............

2010-05-14T20:17:00.000-07:00

I just wondered if anybody wondered if I had fallen off the face of the earth?? Well, I have been very, very busy!!! This past semester I took some night classes. So between my homework, my oldest daughter's homework, AWANA on Wednesday nights and Sunday School on Sunday's, does not leave me much time to blog plus all the other duties I have as a wife, mother, maid, etc., etc. Anyways, I have missed blogging as well as I have missed reading blogs. It seems everything came to a halt all at once. So now I have all this time on my hands to blog although I need to be cleaning house. I feel like I haven't cleaned my house in six months!! That is bad, did I really say that?? It seems the last six months I have barely had time to get the laundry done. A lot has happened in the last few months. Kaitlyn got glasses and has started softball. So that will keep us busy for a while. I am going to post some pictures from the last few months. I hope everyone had a happy Mother's Day.

Here is Kaitlyn and her friend Abreanna. They were in a Lip Sync together. They sang "Sisters" by Rosemary Clooney. It was really cute and they won 4th place. This was in March. This is how far behind I am!!

Here are pictures from Kenleigh's 3rd birthday party that we had at Pizza Pro. My baby is growing up way too fast!! The bottom picture is Kenleigh and Ma. She says that is her best friend. Too cute!!

Here are the girls at the annual Easter egg hunt at church.

Here we are with my mom Easter Sunday. Kenny had to work. :(

Here are me and my girls and here are the girls after their egg hunt.

Mother's Day.

My mother-in-law and father-in-law Mother's Day.

I think that gets me caught up. I hope everyone had a happy Mother's Day. I am so thankful for my mom and my mother-in-law. I have learned so much from both of them.

God Bless and hopefully I can do more blogging!!

LORI

Music Monday

2010-02-28T19:12:00.000-08:00

Today is Music Monday and Tara, I must tell you, I am very, very sorry. I feel as though I have let you down. But I have been so busy lately!! I barely have enough time to take a shower these days, LOL!! Anyways, I had some extra time this weekend, so I wanted to share a song that has been on my mind here lately. Life is not always a bed of roses, but God is ALWAYS there for us. All we have to do is call upon his name and he will take care of us. I feel as though I am in a transition period in my life. I don't really want to go into a lot of detail but if anything changes or my prayers are answered, I will definitely let you know. It was warm enough here today to let the girls go out and play and so I took them out and I listened to Kaitlyn's MP3 player that Granny and Papaw got her for Christmas and I had this song put on her MP3 player and I just love it. When we are going through "storms" in our life, God is always there and we should still continue to praise him even when we don't understand. I hope you enjoy it and if you would like to participate in Music Monday yourself, just join Tara over at Keeping Up With The Kelly's. I hope everybody has a great week. I probably won't get a chance to do anymore posting until next weekend. Kenleigh will have her 3rd birthday on Friday and Kaitlyn is going to be in a lip sync on Friday. So we have a busy week ahead. Hopefully I can blog about the lip sync and the birthday party next weekend.

LORI

Favorite Foto Friday - U Pick February

2010-02-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know I have been missing for a really long time but I have been very, very busy between school and homework and my daughter's homework and well, the list goes on and on. So today I thought I would participate in FFF and just try to catch up for the month of February especially since it is "u pick". I didn't post any Valentine pictures, so that is what I am going to post today. I hope you all have been doing well and had a good Valentines Day and are looking forward to the coming of Spring. I know I am. I am tired of winter.

Here is Kaitlyn at her Valentine party with her little Valentine, Levi. He got her this cute little better!! It was so sweet. Her first love.

Jacob with his Valentine Box. I love it!!

Cousins: Kaitlyn, Jacob and Madison

Kaitlyn with her BFF Abreanna.

Kaitlyn and Alexis

My girls!!

Kenleigh with her Valentine card from Mimi.

Kaitlyn with her Valentine card from Mimi.

Valentines Day at church. My Sunday School Class: Azlyn, Allie and Kenleigh.

If you would like to participate just join Hannah over at Me-Me and Monkey's Big Adventure and link up.

LORI

No Mommy............No Potty??

2010-02-03T20:30:00.000-08:00

My almost 3-year-old daughter has some major issues.....if I am not with her she refuses to go potty. Yes, you heard me right. She is just like her daddy used to be when he was a kid. She will hold it in all day until I get there to get her. I am afraid her bladder is going to bust!! She "normally" stays with my in-laws, but she has had to stay with my husband's aunt a few times and she went all day without going to the bathroom. Today she stayed with my father-in-law because my mother-in-law was at the hospital with her mother. Luckily she was only with him for half a day. The minute I got there, I immediately took her to the bathroom and she had a full bladder. This concerns me because she is going to start to preschool in the fall and unless I get a job at the preschool, what in the world am I going to do??? Should I go pick her up 2-3 times a day and take her to go potty?? Maybe she is just really, really modest?? She is just like her daddy. I posted about us having trouble with potty training. Well now we have that down, but she is going to hold it if I am not there!!! Everybody has issues I guess, I know I do, but that is for another post. HA!! What are your issues or somebody else in the family if you don't want to let yours out for blogland to read?

LORI

Playing in the Snow

2010-02-01T18:59:00.000-08:00

We received lots of snow on Friday of last week and my youngest has been sick and not been able to get out in it. I have been stuck in the house since Thursday. I finally got out today to go eat at the local restaurant. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law came over yesterday and we we "played" in the snow. My sister-in-law set with the baby so I could go sledding in the snow. I laughed so hard until I cried. I got knocked off three different times and was laughing so hard, I couldn't even get up and no, I don't have any pictures of that. But I do have pictures of the kids and then today my husband and oldest made a snowman and we finally let Kenleigh get out in it long enough to get some photos with the snowman. She informed me that she wasn't sick anymore.

Kaitlyn being pulled by the 4-wheeler on her sled.

My brother-in-law Johnny pulling the kids on the sled.

Lacey and Kaitlyn "playing" in the snow.

Kenleigh finally getting to "play" in the snow.

Kaitlyn and Kenleigh with the snowman. He has on a Hannah Montanna scarf.

Daddy with the girls. He helped them build it.

Kenleigh is adding some snow to the snowman.

Kaitlyn is fixing to throw a snowball at me and daddy is scraping off my van so we can go eat!!

Johnny and Lacey with the snowman.

Lacey and Johnathon

All the kids with the snowman. I enjoyed it but I hope this is the last of it all for this year. Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, so I guess we shall see.

LORI

Music Monday

2010-02-01T18:29:00.000-08:00

Today is Music Monday and I am joining Tara over at Keeping Up With The Kelly's. I am following along with Tara's so called mess up. Hey, we all mess up. My brain is not working right lately anyways, so I need some help with my post.

Ok, I know this is not the best show for a child to be watching, but me and my Mimi would watch this show every Saturday night together and that is a memory I will never forget. The Golden Girls. I still love the show to this day. I watch reruns all the time.

LORI

Did You Miss Me?

2010-01-30T20:07:00.000-08:00

I know I have been gone for a while. I have not posted anything in two weeks. Things have been pretty crazy. I have started back to school. So between being a full-time parent, wife and career woman, it has been pretty hard to keep up with my blogging. I don't know if anybody has even missed me except for one person and that is my mother-in-law. She told me that had been checking my blog everyday and there was nothing new. So, I didn't mean to disappoint but you gotta do what you gotta do. So this post is dedicated to my mother-in-law and I hope she enjoys it as her and my father-in-law have been stuck in the house for a while due to his health and the weather.

Week before last my oldest daugther Kaitlyn was saved. This was an answered prayer as she has been asking questions for almost two years now. It was after AWANA two Wednesday nights ago. I was so excited, proud, blessed, etc.

We were without power from yesterday at 3:30 until today at 11:30. I got a lot done around here that has not been done in a while. The power going out never bothers me as we still have heat, hot water and can cook. We just don't have the modern technology. The kids don't like it too well, but it is good for them.

Kaitlyn spent the night with granny Thursday night because she was almost positive there would be no school on Friday and she was correct. So her and granny made homemade sugar cookies and Kaitlyn made granny's day by telling her that she needed her own cooking show and she should call it "Granny's Cooking Show." So if this happens anytime soon, I will be sure and let you all know.

Here is Papaw enjoying one of the cookies.

Two weeks ago my father-in-law and my husband's aunt celebrated their 70 and 60th birthday. My father-in-law was born on his sister's birthday. So he was her birthday present on her 10th birthday. We celebrated by surprising the both of them at Ryan's Restaurant.

Here is my father-in-law Johnny. He had no idea. He thought we were just taking him out to eat.

Here is aunt Billie. She was surprised as well.

Here is their cake which I thought looked very nice and tasted wonderful!! Thanks to Cheryl for doing such a good job on the cake.

Here are the birthday boy and girl!!

Here is another sister aunt Barb. She is between Johnny and Billie.

Scott and Bliss Akridge

This is my brother-in-law (AKA Missionary Baptist Preacher) dancing to Happy Birthday Elvis style. Shh!! Please don't tell his congregation!!

This is my husband's uncle Carl and his new bride June. They make such a cute couple and they are always afraid they are going to break my camera. Well, this is the 3rd picture I have taken of them and my camera is still working fine.

Uncle Timmy and McKenzie.

Brother Tom and Mrs. Brenda

This is my sister-in-law Tina and brother-in-law Jason.

Brian and Melinda.

Aunt Pam and Ma

Aunt Billie with all her grandkids.

Papaw and Granny with all their grandkids.

The birthday boy with his balloons.

I don't have any pictures of the kids getting out in the snow and playing because Kenleigh has had the croup this week, so I didn't want to get her out and have a relapse. But I did go out myself and get some pictures yesterday. It was so peaceful and quiet and so pretty all the snow we got. The kids did enjoy watching all the snow from the window. We got approximately 6 inches of snow.

Here are some pictures of the snow. The one on the left is of the highway out in front of our house. The one on the right is beside our house down towards our pond.

This is my husband's shop and his tractor. Kaitlyn told him this morning she thought he had a flat! HA!

So pretty!!

And this my friends is our coffee maker/perculator that we use when the electricity is out and it makes the best coffee. When my husband and I moved into his grandparents old house, this was left and he says I wanted to throw it out. I don't remember that?? Anyways, we kept it and I am so glad.

LORI

I have been tagged....

2010-01-23T20:28:00.000-08:00

I have been tagged by Amy at Keep'n The Sunny Side. I have not blogged all week. I have been so busy. I have went back to school and am enjoying it but just don't have much time on my hands. So don't worry if you don't see me around like you used to. I will do my best to post when I can.

Some wonderful to news to share with you that happened this week. My oldest daughter, Kaitlyn was saved after church Wednesday night. This is an answered prayer as she has been asking lots of questions for a while now and I have been praying for her that the holy spirit would convict her heart. Praise the Lord!!

Ok, now on to my post. Here are the rules:

1) Answers 5 questions with 5 answers

2) Tag 5 other bloggers.

Question 1)

Where were you 10 years ago?

1) My husband and I had just got married and had only been married for four months.

2) I had just started a new job as a medical transcriptionist.

3) I didn't have any kids.

4) I had just found out I had asthma. (My mom says I was allergic to my husband, lol).

5) I was about 30 pounds lighter.

Question 2)

What is on your "To Do" list today?

1) Do my homework.

2) Change sheets on all beds.

3) Prepare Sunday School lesson.

4) Go get Kaitlyn from Mimis.

5) Laundry, laundry, laundry.

Question 3)

What 5 snacks do you enjoy?

1) Walmart fruit smiles.

2) Honey wheat pretzel sticks.

3) Chex mix.

4) Granola bars.

5) Gummy sour candy.

Question 4)

Where are 5 Places you have lived.

1) West Memphis, Arkansas

2) Bald Knob, Arkansas

3) Bradford, Arkansas

4) Those are the only places I have lived.

5) Listed above.

Question 5)

Name 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire.

1) Build a new home.

2) Donate money to the church.

3) Support a cause.

4) Put back for my kids college fund.

5) Help those less fortunate.

Now, I am supposed to tag 5 people.

I tag:

1. Kelly.
2. Tara.
3. Brooke.
4. Rhonda.
5. Nic.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I have some other things I need to post. Maybe I can do them tomorrow. God Bless.

LORI

Music Monday/From Your Wedding

2010-01-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is Music Monday and I am joining Tara at Keeping Up With The Kelly's. This weeks theme is "From Your Wedding." My husband and I did not have your traditional wedding where we stood in front of everybody for what seems like an hour while a song played. My husband was just too shy for that. So we had a tape playing music before our wedding started and this was one of the songs that we had played. I hope you enjoy it.

Oh, on a side note I figured out why I was not able to make comments on Saturday when I was reading everyones blog. I added a update to my computer and I usually go through Mozilla Firefox and apparently the new update blocked some things and adding widgets or comments was one of them. Just terrible, no widgets, no comments, what is this world coming to??? Thankfully, my husbands cousin came over and fixed it for me, so now I am haivng to run through Internet Explorer.

If you would like to "hear" more Music Monday's just click here.

LORI

Another Award..........How Exciting

2010-01-16T11:34:00.000-08:00

I have received another award. I just love getting awards so feel free to send me one anytime you like!! My dear friend Tara over at Keeping Up With The Kelly's has sent me this "Gorgeous Blogger Award." Thanks so much Tara. You are the greatest!!

Part of accepting this award is to list 6 things you probably don't know about me and then I must pass it along to 6 other gorgeous blogging friends. So here it goes:

1.) I cannot start cooking supper until I have completely cleaned up the kitchen. I know it sounds silly since I am fixing to mess the kitchen up again anyways, but I assume it has something to do with my OCD. I also like to wash up my dishes as I go if I have time. This is something my mother-in-law taught me but now with two kids it is not always possible. But it does make less to clean up after eating.

2.) Another one of my OCD issues is that if I cannot find something I am looking for, I may tear the house apart until I find it. It will absolutely drive me crazy until I find it. I actually had this happen this morning. I was looking for a lid to something and so I was throwing pots and pans, etc., (Not really, but you get the picture) and was about to drive my husband crazy. Needless to say, he was very glad when I finally found the lid.

3.) I was born in West Memphis, Arkansas and only lived there 2 years and then moved to Bald Knob, Arkansas after my parents divorced.

4.) I love lemon pepper. When I was kid I would eat it out of the palm of my hand. I know that sounds gross but I just love it. Sorry.

5.) I love Build-A-Bear. My kids have been a few times and have the cute bears, but I would love to go and stuff the bear and dress it up. I just think that would be so neat.

6.) One of my best friends from high school set me and my husband up and I am so thankful she did. Thanks Jennifer.

Okay, that was kind of hard, but I did it!! Now, I have to pick 6 gorgeous bloggers to accept this award. It is going to be hard because I have so many wonderful blog friends but here it goes:

1. Hannah

2. Sonya

3. Tisha

4. Amy

5. Mimi

6. Cathy

Here you are ladies. You all have gorgeous blogs!!

P.S. - I have been blogging most of the day off and on and I have tired to make comments on different ones blogs and for some reason my computer will not let me, so I apologize. I have tried to comment to different ones today.

LORI

Favorite Foto Friday/Close Up

2010-01-16T10:42:00.000-08:00

I am a little late getting my FFF post in but, hey, better late than never is what I always say. Hannah's theme for this week is close ups and when I first read this I got a little tickled because my oldest daughter LOVES to get my camera and take pictures of herself, ALL THE TIME. It is so bad that I find myself deleting multiple pictures every week because they are just wasting space on my camera, but for the ones that have turned out, I am going to share those with you today. I love close up pictures. They are my favorite, but I must tell you the ones today were not taken by me, they are most all taken by my 7-year-old daughter.

Here is one of MANY pictures that Kaitlyn has taken of herself.

When I found this one on my camera I literally Laughed Out Loud!! This was a trophy she got for participating in a gymnastics recital a few years ago and she looks like she is just so shocked that she received this trophy.

Here is Kenleigh before going on in the snow. This isn't real close up, but I haven't been able to get any shots lately.

Here is another one that Kaitlyn has taken of herself.

Here is one I took of them in front of the Christmas tree one morning before church.

If you would like to participate just join Hannah here for more FFF.

LORI

Thankful Thursday

2010-01-14T06:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Thursday. I am joining Sonya over at Truth 4 the Journey. If you would like to participate just click here.

I have so much to be thankful for but here are 5 for this week.

1. My husband. Now I know I list him just about every week, but I am so, so thankful for him for many different reasons but this week I am thankful because he is letting me fulfill a dream that I have been wanting to do for a couple of years now. I am starting back to school this afternoon and am very nervous, but am also looking forward to it and what God has in store for me. Thank you Kenny for letting me do this.

2. My in-laws. They will be picking up my oldest daughter from school on Thursdays while I am at school and keep both kids until my husband can get home from work to take over.

3. Friends. With my new endeavor this week, my friends have been so awesome just giving me encouragment. That means a lot.

4. Warmer temperatures. It is not much warmer but better than we were. It has been so cold and we have been having to drip water for weeks now in order to keep the pipes from freezing. It is finally get up above freezing so we don't have to do this as often. Being from Arkansas, I am just not used to these frigid temperatures.

5. My health. I have had a few bad headaches this weeks and it has really made me appreciate that I am healthy and don't know what I would do if I wasn't able to function and do the daily things I do if I wasn't in good health.

LORI

Word Filled Wednesday

2010-01-13T04:49:00.000-08:00

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

I really need this verse this week. I am trying to make some decisions and at first I was trying to make them on my own, which is not the right way to handle them and this verse just came to me.

If you would like to participate in Word Filled Wednesday, join Lori at All You Have To Give and link up.

Happy Wednesday.

LORI

Ruby Tuesday/Red Books

2010-01-11T19:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Ruby Tuesday. Today I am joining Mary over at Work of the Poet and she has a theme today which is to post RED books, covers, pages, drawings inside the books. So my oldest daughter always checks a book out of the library at school every week and so I read this book to her tonight.

I know it is after Christmas, but this was a really cute book.

Kaitlyn started out going to read to me, but then she changed her mind.

They make a ~~snowman~~ snowdog that looks like Clifford and we have had some snow this past week and it has been very cold here but not enough for a snowman.

LORI

Music Monday

2010-01-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is Music Monday and I am joining Tara over at Keeping Up With The Kellys. This week is pick your own song. So I must tell you that my daughter got the Miley Cyrus CD for Christmas and I think I have listened to it more than she has. I just love this song. My husband even likes it. I hope you enjoy it and be sure and join Tara to see more Music Monday's.

LORI

We have an Alfalfa in the House...

2010-01-10T15:20:00.000-08:00

LORI

Now They Both Have One.............

2010-01-10T14:50:00.000-08:00

A scooter that is.............

Kenleigh has been doing so good on her potty training the last few weeks and the day that Kaitlyn got her scooter for her birthday.....

I think Kenleigh liked it better than Kaitlyn did. So we told Kenleigh if she did really good on her potty training that we would get her a scooter. So my uncle got her a gift card for Christmas and we had not used it yet. So Friday night me and my husband go to Walmart and we looked like we were Christmas shopping because her gift card was for $30 and the scooter that we had been looking at was originally $34 and it was marked down to $14. WOW!! So we used her gift card to get her a new scooter and a baby carrier for her baby dolls.

I was thinking they were just alike but after we got it home, we found out they are a little different. They are both Disney characters but a little different.

The one on the left is Kaitlyn's and the one on the right is Kenleigh's.

Don't tell Kenleigh, but when Kaitlyn was full potty trained we got her a John Deer Gator. Shhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! But my husband had also just sold a litter of puppies and used that money to buy it with.

Here is Kaitlyn's gator that she got about 4 years ago, but no worries, Kenleigh gets to ride it too.

LORI

Favorite Foto Friday/Grandparents

2010-01-08T21:59:00.000-08:00

I am participating in FFF. Hannah over at Me-Me and Monkey's BIG Adventure has a theme for today and it is grandparents. I have checked out some of the blogs that linked to Hannah's and I notice that they are blogging about their kids grandparents, but I want to show you my grandparents and then I will post pictures of my kids grandparents. So here we go.

Here is a picture of my Mimi and Papaw. This was probably taken back in the late 70s. My mom and dad divorced when I was a year and a half and my mom and I moved in with my maternal grandparents. They had a huge part in raising me and they are both gone to be with the Lord and I miss them both so much.

Here are my paternal grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Young. They too have gone on to be with the Lord.

This is my husbands paternal grandparents. Grandma Mary and Grandpa Bill. We actually live in their house. We remodeled it before moving into it 10 years ago. They have both gone on to be with the Lord and we miss them very much. My kids did not get to meet them.

This is my husband's maternal grandparents. Ma and Pa. Pa passed away just this past September. Ma is still with us and so sweet. I ask that you continue to pray for her as they were married for over 65 years.

Here is Granny and Papaw that live just up the hill from us and are such a blessing.

Here is Kaitlyn with her Grandpa Young at Thanksgiving.

Here is Kaitlyn with her Mimi at her birthday party this past year.

My kids are blessed to have such great grandparents.

LORI

Thankful Thursday

2010-01-07T19:15:00.000-08:00

Today is Thankful Thursday. If you would like to participate just join Sonya over at Truth 4 the Journey and list 5 things you are thankful for this week.

I have had a bit of a disappointing week but still have a lot to be thankful for and I know that God has a plan for me.

1. Even though I didn't get the job that I applied for, I am still thankful that I do have a job. I know there are so many people that don't have a job and really need one. So I am thankful for what I do have.

2. My husband. We have had some record low temperatures this week and a very low windchill factor and my husband has been outside everyday this week when he gets home from work making sure that our house is ready for such cold temperatures. I know there are people that don't have a warm place to stay.

3. My Sparkies on Wednesday nights. I was down in the dumps on Wednesday and was not looking forward to going to AWANA. I just wanted to stay home and wallow in my sorrows and I was so thankful that I went because they were such a blessing to me.

4. Gas. Most everything we have runs off gas including our heat, so if we lose power, at least we will still be warm. I won't be able to blog or FB, but I think I can live without them for a couple of days at least, lol!!

5. Blog friends. I ran across someones blog this week that had a Bible verse that I really needed to hear and fit the situation I was going through at the time.

So, what are you thankful for this week?

LORI

Word Filled Wednesday

2010-01-06T04:13:00.000-08:00

We loved because He first loved us. 1John 4:19

If you would like to participate in Word Filled Wednesday join Penny over at her blog and link up.

LORI

Ruby Tuesday

2010-01-04T18:21:00.000-08:00

Here is one of the Christmas pictures that didn't make any of the previous posts.

Kenleigh in her Santa hat.

Happy RubyTuesday. If you would like to participate, just join Mary over at Work of the Poet.

LORI

Music Monday/Rockin' In The New Year party song

2010-01-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is Music Monday. I didn't participate last week because things were so crazy. Hopefully I can get back in the swing of things this week. Today Tara has a theme and that is Rockin' in the New Year party song. I don't know if you would actually call this a New Year party song but I am getting old and boring and was already in bed this New Year's. I just really like this song because it is a fun song and it talks about how the world has gone crazy and I am hoping that this year I can be less uptight about things and just enjoy life. I have so much to be thankful for and sometimes forget that and take things for granted. I hope you enjoy the song too and if you would like to participate this week and link up just click on the "Music Monday" button above.

LORI

First Snow of 2010

2010-01-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

We got our first snow of the year here in Arkansas. I had got up right before 7 a.m. to go to the restroom and I thought it looked very bright outside, so I looked out the window and there it was about an inch of snow!! I was so excited. I think more than the kids were. My youngest was already in bed with us, as she ALWAYS is. She starts out in bed with the oldest but then sometime in the night comes and gets in bed with us. She leaned up and looked out the window and was excited. My husband went and woke up our oldest to show her. We got on up and started getting ready for church, but the girls wanted to go on out in it for a bit. So we let them. My husband went out with them while I started getting ready.

Here is Kenleigh all bundled up and ready to get out in the snow.

That first step out in it. We didn't get much.

Here they both are.

Daddy bundled up to go out with them.

She kept calling her ear muffs, her head phones!!

This was after church. It started snowing again and daddy had gone hunting, so I took them out myself.

Here are the girls swinging on the swingset.

Here they are attempting to build a snowman but we didn't quite have enough.

They had a blast.

LORI

Wooo Pig Soooie, Razorbacks!

2010-01-03T13:04:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I am not a die hard football fan, but we have done pretty good this year and I watched at least one game that I can remember and so I wanted to watch last night since we made it to the Liberty Bowl and I was so glad I did because we won. It was close all the way through the game. It went into overtime. The game was at Memphis, Tennessee and it was cold, cold, cold!!! We won 20-17!! Go Hogs!!

LORI

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2009-12-31T20:34:00.000-08:00

I pray that everyone has a safe and happy new year. We didn't do anything special here. We had my in-laws over and my sister-in-law and niece and nephew and we just had some snack foods and then I have been trying to catch up on blogging the rest of the night. Hopefully I can get back on track next week, not just with blogging but with a lot of things. I hope and pray that I can eat better and exercise and lose some weight. I hope and pray that I can spend more quality time with my kids and more time in prayer.

Kenleigh has been in big girl panties all day today. I am so proud of her. I guess our pediatrician was right. He says it should not be called potty training because it is not potty training, it is a choice and she chose today to go to the potty most of the day. She had a few accidents but hey, at least she told when she needed to go. See you guys next year.

LORI

She is My Sunshine

2009-12-31T20:17:00.000-08:00

This is just one of the reasons I get out of bed in the mornings. She is my sunshine that is for sure. Life gets hectic and this year has just flown by and I don't feel like I even had a Christmas because it just flew by. I am blessed to have a at home job but I still don't feel like I get to spend enough time with my kids. On this particular day, my niece was exempt from semester tests and she came to babysit for me. My in-laws usually babysit but as you know my father-in-law is undergoing maintenance chemo and has various doctors appointments and so Kenleigh gets to stay home with me when they are not able to babysit and although some days it is a little tough trying to keep up with her plus do my job as a in-home medical transcriptionist, she sure keeps me on my toes and keeps me laughing. I thank God everyday for both of my kids.

Cinderella having some pizza!!

My niece Lacey and Kenleigh playing dress up. This is their favorite thing to do.

One day as I was stepping out of the shower, this is what I found when I pulled the shower curtain back. She is the sweetest thing.

This is a guitar shaped pillow with a blanket inside that Kaitlyn got for her birthday and I walked in to find Kenleigh playing the guitar. Gotta love her!!

This was another day I had her. She has her Dora backpack and her Dora umbrella.

This was one of those days that she didn't get a nap and so when this happens she usually gets pretty cranky and then things will get real quiet and I will walk in and find her like this. I am just thankful that God chose me to be the mother of this precious angel.

LORI

Kaitlyn Gets An Early Christmas Present

2009-12-31T19:41:00.000-08:00

We let Kaitlyn open one Christmas gift one week prior to Christmas. The reason you ask? Well, Kaitlyn made a huge milestone in the Mitchell house. She has always been scared to sleep in her bed by herself and I always have to wait until she falls asleep on the couch and then carry her to bed and at my age and her age and weight, this is not very easy. Even though she has her sister as a bed partner, she still would rather be in my bed!! Go figure. Anyways, the night before we let her open this gift, she had went to her own bed without any trouble, got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and went back to her own bed!! Way to go Kaitlyn. I am so proud of you. This was a black Friday deal I got. Project Runway Fashion Kit.

LORI

We Will Miss Ms. Tommie Sue

2009-12-31T19:11:00.000-08:00

Kaitlyn's Christmas party at school was the last day of school before the Christmas holidays, December 18. We found out the week before school let out that Ms. Tommie Sue, Kaitlyn's first grade teacher would be moving to kindergarten and Kaitlyn would be getting a new homeroom teacher, who she has already and she just loves, but we are going to miss Ms. Tommie Sue even though she will just be right across the hall from her. So she can still keep an eye on her. Here is Kaitlyn's class now with Ms. Tommie Sue, but they will all be split up between the other two classes.

Kenleigh got to go to Kaitlyn's party and she even got to sit in a seat and participate in the party.

Kaitlyn posing for a picture.

Kaitlyn with her BFF Abreanna.

Kenleigh with here sissy and all of sissy's BFF's.

Kaitlyn, Sienna and Breanna.

Ms. Amanda. This is Breanna's mom and she led the kids in singing and she has a beautiful voice!!

LORI